
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 25, 1994                   TAG: 9405260063
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By PAUL SCHULTZ NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

BUSES TAKE THE SHOW ON THE ROAD

It seems that taking the bus has gotten a whole lot easier. Now, for those riders who are fed up with crosswords or who find the scenery less than inspiring, there's another way to wile away the miles.

Movies. Yep, recent films on the bus.

On Peter Pan and Bonanza bus lines, which serve much of the Eastern seaboard, a passenger can get on at New York's Port Authority, head out on the highway and promptly start enjoying ``Groundhog Day.'' Or ``Last Action Hero.'' You get the picture.

I traveled to Cape Cod, Mass., recently on Bonanza's cinematic highway. There was a slightly surreal feel to it all - cruising through upper Manhattan at dawn, looking at the shuffling people and shuttered shops. And all the while on board Bill Murray was flirting with Andie MacDowell up on a little screen. By the time we got to Providence, R.I., they were in bed.

The way the movie is shown is much the same as the airlines do it. The driver puts a video cassette in a player, which is screened to about six monitors placed strategically throughout the coach.

Bonanza riders plug into jacks mounted in the backs of the seats and listen via earphones, rented for $2. Those traveling on Peter Pan get the flick for free but there's no escaping it - the whole bus gets the sound. (Concord Trailways, which serves the Boston-Bangor, Maine, corridor, offers headsets free of charge. And they serve snacks.)

``Having video on charter buses is not new,'' notes Peter Pan president Peter Picknelly, who says his company started showing movies in 1992.

And to help those who would rather not hear cars being blown up during their bus trip, Picknelly says Peter Pan publishes schedules that indicate video routes, which make up a full 50 percent of the service.

Still, he says, ``People actually plan their trips around the movie schedule. They'll wait an hour, in many cases, just to take a video bus.'' (And concerned parents can rest easy: The films have been edited for more general audiences, and extreme acts of violence and profanity are a no-no.)

The people over at Bonanza, meanwhile, defend their approach. ``We made a conscious choice to provide headsets,'' says executive veep George Hunter, ``for the simple reason of trying to take everyone into consideration. Perhaps you get into the bus and you've seen `The Firm.' Why should you be subjected to hearing it again?''

Bonanza started 31/2 years ago and plays videos only on its New York-Providence/Cape Cod run. ``We also have four channels of music,'' Hunter says.

by CNB